Critiquing Prior Decisions Made

Part 1

You have just been promoted from front-line supervisor to be one of the firm's senior managers. During your businesseducation, you learned that the primary role of a manager is to make good decisions. As a supervisor, you had frequently been making routine decisions, but you realize that decision making for the overall company can and will have far greater impact on the company and its employees.

Your boss, the chief executive officer (CEO), realizes that you do not have much practice in this higher level, decision-making process and has asked you to write a memo describing your understanding of how to make important decisions.

Your memo should address the following questions:

â?¢Describe at least 3 criteria that would determine whether the manager is making good decisions. What should be done to better assure that you are making a good decision?
â?¢In the realm of decision making, what are assumptions? Rather than use a dictionary definition, cite several specific assumptions that would go with any real-life decision you have made or have seen made at a company at which you have worked.
â?¢Given the importance of proper assumptions, your boss asked you to assess the accuracy of certain business assumptions and what could you do to test or confirm the credibility of them. The following were major assumptions for each firm:
?An automobile manufacturer's assumption that the demand for SUVs would continue because gas prices would continue to rise
?An airline's assumption that there was a need for an airline that provided no added amenities

Part 2

As a recently promoted manager, you are learning about the importance of basing important decisions on good assumptions; you thought you would practice by thinking through some major decisions that have been made and what the assumptions that the decisions were based upon must have been.

Research and find two situations in which decisions were made. For each situation, describe the likely assumptions that were made prior to each decision. Do you feel the decision was a good one? Why or why not?

Making good decisions requires a systematic methodology. A senior manager must take an organized approach by creating a constructive environment, having alternative plans in place, being able to quickly choose the alternative plan to use, knowing the right decision, communicating the decision, and then acting on it immediately. Being promoted from front-line to senior manager has given me a complete and well-rounded understanding of the effects of decision-making. Good decisions can be seen in the respect and the reactions of those who are subordinates to managers.
As senior manager, it is important to know the people who work under you. In order to know whether or not I am making the proper choice and decision in a particular situation, looking to the productivity of the team and individuals is a clear indicator of that.
Assumptions in Realm of Decision Making
In prior companies, the work ethics have a lot to do with good decision-making. There were supervisors who did not exhibit those qualities; therefore, their ...